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Here and There in Friartown

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News, notes, and opinions on Friar basketball (and other topics) while waiting to see if there are going to be any more additions for next year’s team. 

  • Let’s see. When Paschal Chukwu committed to the Friars he and his family said one of the biggest things they were looking for was a smaller type school with a family type of atmosphere. He is now transferring  and the schools that he plans on visiting include Kansas, Michigan State, Virginia, and Nebraska. What happened?
  • One possible scenario is that some people convinced him or his family that a big basketball factory type of program is the best place for developing a big man for the NBA. I just hope he realizes that if he goes to one of these blue blood schools he could very easily be recruited over. I guess having the top point guard in the country passing you the ball next year was not good enough.
  • This marks two straight years that a player at PC has decided to transfer at the end of May. At that point in the season it is too late to recruit a decent replacement. The players who do this don’t owe the fans anything, but you would think they would have a little more respect for their teammates and coaches.
  • All that being said, Paschal seems like a solid kid and I hope it all works out. It is just a puzzling decision, especially when you consider his list of destination schools.
  • One by one it seems that all of the 5th year senior big men who are transferring and could play for PC immediately next year are selecting other schools. One possible explanation for this is that PC has a very limited amount of master’s degree programs and in order for a 5th year senior to be eligible for transfer he has to enroll in a type of master’s program that is not offered by his original school.
  • One of the players working out for the Celtics today was old friend Gerard Coleman. When looking back at former PC players he is truly one of the biggest mysteries. He had a world of potential but never really improved any of his weaknesses in college. When he arrived at Providence College as a freshman everyone realized he needed to improve his outside shot and his right hand to become an elite player. He also needed to add some serious weight. Here it is five years later and he still has the same weaknesses. I guess it was just not meant to be for Coleman.
  • That being said I do think Coleman has a chance to play professional basketball somewhere. Maybe the Celtics have seen enough where he could fill out a roster spot on their summer league team. If he has a good showing in the NBA Summer League he could make a D League roster or play overseas in a lower level professional league.
  • In an article in the Providence Journal Coleman is quoted as saying he could tell stories for the next 20 minutes about his experiences at PC. I would love to hear them sometime.
  • A recent ESPN article noted that each SEC school would be receiving a 31 million dollar payout from the conference this season. There is no way that conferences like the Mountain West or the American can even begin to compete with the Power Five conferences when they can bring in this kind of money. Schools like Cincinnati and Connecticut are going to be dragged down by their football programs if they try and keep pace. The Big East basketball schools broke away from this mess at exactly the right time.
  • Attention John Buccigross! The hockey goalie for PC’s team next year is named Hawkey. And he is going to be a freshman in Cawlidge. It doesn’t get any better than that.
  • It looks like new assistant coach Jeff Battle has hit the ground running and is already getting involved with several class of 2016 prospects. Some of the potential recruits Battle’s may be taking a look at include Dylan Painter, Grant Williams, Quentin Jackson, and DiRiante Jenkins.
  • Bruce Pearl, the new coach at Auburn, was recently quoted as saying that he is looking for more production out of transfer Tyler Harris than he had last year at Providence. Somehow I don’t think that Pearl is going to have to yell at Harris during the games to shoot the ball.
  • Ryan Fazekas and Ricky Council are both on campus taking classes and working out. It is great to see a couple of the freshmen getting a head start. The season will be here before we know it.

Email Craig at craig.leighton@friarbasketball.com

2 Comments

  1. Keith Buohl

    May 30, 2015 at 1:29 am

    Chukwu and his family are listening to the wrong advice and have made a huge mistake. Sitting out next year and not taking advantage of the Dunn factor makes it even a worse decision.

  2. Derec Lamendola

    May 30, 2015 at 2:30 am

    CRIAG LEIGHTON DETEC LAMENDOLA Can I Jus Say Somthing We Don’t Need Talk About Tyler Hrris All DUNK Hats Harris And Same With Chukwu TO That’s ALLL News And This NOT Mistake And Becuase Kris Dunn Coming Back Let’s Talk About This Coming Season 2016 And We Don’t Need 2015 We Need 2016 Plerys Criag Chage The New Cover Post And Tagg Me IN IT Number 1#FAN PURT DEREC LAMENDOLA UP New Cover Page

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